Develop for Multiple VR Headsets?

I am brand, brand, brand new to VR with Unity. I am actually a teacher and would like to teach it for my students. However, I know nothing about the hardware involved. The idea would be for the class to make their programs and then use them in the library on an HTC Vive system. However, this is an expensive thing to set up in a classroom, so it is not likely to happen. So is it possible to fully develop the program before testing it on the Vive (i.e. get a good enough idea that things are working without actually using a VR headset)? And, if I could just use something simple and cheap for testing purposes, would I need to have a separate library and code for each headset (the cheep google option and the Vive)?
Any help or advice would very much appreciated.

 

My advice would be to skip the cheap google option and the expensive Vive option, and instead buy an Oculus Go for the classroom. It's $200 and very high quality.

Of course VR development is a deep topic — you should probably take a few months learning to do it yourself before trying to teach it. But we're here to help.

 

If I were to use the Go option, would other headsets (and their hand controls) still be usable, or when you create a program it is specific to one unit?

 

Most of the code would be the same, but yes, the code for accessing controllers is pretty much specific to each platform.

Though with Go, the code to access its single controller, and the code to access the two Quest controllers (coming next spring!), would be very similar.

Best,
- Joe

 

Both of your problems can be solved by using vrtk. It's free and allows you to use a simulator inside of unity instead of an actual headset. It also inherently supports a lot of different vr headsets.

Check it out here;
https://vrtoolkit.readme.io/

 

MoMonay thank you so much for the suggestion. I am going to definitely check it out.

 

Glad I could help, I forgot to mention their youtube tutorials, which are much easier to follow than their documentation:

Installing vrtk;

Installing vr headset Simulator;

 

VRTK not supported STEAM VR 2.0
I'm also searching for solution test VR without VR headset